Looking at buying my first Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Advice and help appreciated.

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I was told by my mentor 27 years ago if someone tells me that in order to train a peak that I would need a 2x4 my response would be "No, you just have to be smarter than the dog"!
Chesapeakes are self thinkers and guard dogs. Had to be....if not, they weren't around very long.
Not so much soft, you just need to be fair and to teach.
Like Tim Carrion says, you negotiate with a Chesapeake.
Also, socialize,socialize, socialize.....what time you put into your pup is what you will get out of your pup.( this is for all dogs, not just a peake)

So they are soft when it comes to pressure but tough
When it comes to harsh hunting conditions, rough water cold weather
Far swims ? Am i correct saying this....

From my experience, the Chesapeake response to pressure is like that of other retrievers: across the board. You'll find some that thrive on it and others that fold and most someplace in between. Of the 6 I have now, most take a fairly low level on the collar. But like Labs, I've had others that needed a higher level. My big, tough male takes a fairly high level but if you really want to make an impression on him, (in the case of a deliberate disobedience) the most effective correction is to get personal: in his face yelling at him in your meanest voice. My feeling is appropriate ecollar use on Chesapeakes works very well as it's a less personal "in your face" correction for disobedience to taught commands. Using the collar effectively requires you to find the level that works on that dog--and this, I don't think, is unique to CBRs.

The rest of your post is very true. I do think you can generalize that Chesapeakes tend to be stoic, and nearly all have good prey drive and will not quit if there's a bird out there, regardless of conditions.

... if you really want to make an impression on him, (in the case of a deliberate disobedience) the most effective correction is to get personal: in his face......

the very first time I watched Adrienne B. wade shirt pocket deep into a pond to have a chat with a Chessie who had on a perfectly good, working E-collar, I asked why. And she told me "it is important they know there is no place on Gods green earth that you can not get to, to lay hands on them".
and most everyone in the group at some point took watches, bill Folds, and tobacco out of trouser pockets to go for a walk out for one thing or another.
Now I am not at all saying that the walk out ment Rover got a thumping. Gosh I think back with a smile my Gate totaly blowing me off to floss with a dead and bloated carp on a muskrat mound. Her looking up and seeing me inches from her (she did not know I was splashing to her), rotted fish flecks on her jowels, wide eyed and shocked was priceless and the perfect correction. If a dog could have exclaimed "OH CARP!", well she would have.

"So what is big is not always the Trout nor the Deer but the chance, the being there. And what is full is not necessarily the creel nor the freezer, but the memory." ~ Aldo Leopold

"The Greatest Obstacle to Discovery is not Ignorance -- It is the Illusion of Knowledge" ~ Daniel Boorstin

the very first time I watched Adrienne B. wade shirt pocket deep into a pond to have a chat with a Chessie who had on a perfectly good, working E-collar, I asked why. And she told me "it is important they know there is no place on Gods green earth that you can not get to, to lay hands on them".
and most everyone in the group at some point took watches, bill Folds, and tobacco out of trouser pockets to go for a walk out for one thing or another.
Now I am not at all saying that the walk out ment Rover got a thumping. Gosh I think back with a smile my Gate totaly blowing me off to floss with a dead and bloated carp on a muskrat mound. Her looking up and seeing me inches from her (she did not know I was splashing to her), rotted fish flecks on her jowels, wide eyed and shocked was priceless and the perfect correction. If a dog could have exclaimed "OH CARP!", well she would have.

Her looking up and seeing me inches from her (she did not know I was splashing to her), rotted fish flecks on her jowels, wide eyed and shocked was priceless and the perfect correction. If a dog could have exclaimed "OH CARP!", well she would have.

Had a similar experience with my first Chesapeake. What a water freak. One time he got out in a channel and was just swimming laps, and I'd had it. I got in, overtook him, and got the most memorable look of surprise and shock.

Not that whatever I did (I think maybe I bit him on the nose right there in the deep water, and told him he was an idiot) fixed his water freaking, but I still get a kick out of the memory of his expression.

I never saw a Chessie water freak. Though with Sam I did get in the water with him because he was vocal swimming to a mark. What I did was go into water where he was always swimming threw fun bumper and just followed him saying quiet easy. For me it worked. Didn't want to apply any pressure. Now he tends to get vocal on blinds when I sit him and don't cast fast enough for him doesn't like to sit there and sweat. And someday you I may need to sweat him out there.